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The Problem With GMOs

According to the Laws of Kenya, GMO (Genetically Modified Organisms) products are illegal but the recent famine in East Africa has made many politicians, especially the former minister of Agriculture William Ruto, very pro-GMO. Several studies have proved that GMOs not only spoil the environment, they also have devastating effects on the human body when consumed as food. These politicians just want a cheap way out of the hunger but none of them thinks about the long-term effect of the GMOs to our society.

Of course GMO maize is cheaper than conventionally grown hybrids, in the short-term but in terms of long term sustainability, GMOs are very costly. A recent study shows that Monsanto’s GMOs cause cancer in mammals. I can go on and on

Another disadvantage of genetically modified organisms is that the seed are patented by the developer company and you cannot replant the seeds, you have to buy the patented seed, again and again. At Kenya Agricultural Research Institute, non GMO seeds are developed everyday and most of them you can replant the seed up to 5 times, clearly, GMO is a rip off driven by greed.

Up to 90% of all major USA food crops are genetically modified, that’s probably why America has the biggest health care bill in the world, dealing with diseases that even Dr. House cannot diagnose.

GMOs Not the Solution to Famine

GMOs is not the solution, the solution is simply research and investment. If the government invested in researching and developing non GMOs which are drought and pest resistant, the matter of food security will be solved. Kenya should not be importing food, leave alone genetically modified food.

We have vast land in the country lying idle. This is very disturbing, to see, hectares of arable land going to waste.

We should also educate our farmers through technology, the internet and social media as well as traditional forms of media. We have locally developed applications that help farmers in their work but more needs to be done in this area. Our 8-4-4 education is garbage, in fact that’s unfair for garbage but our schools don’t inculcate agriculture and food issues in the curriculum. Our agriculture courses at national universities are outdated and imbecile, private universities don’t care about agriculture, food, just making money, That’s Wassup, what do you think?

5 thoughts on “The Problem With GMOs”

Unless and until we exhaust the route of hybridisation and other natural methods of taking advantage of biodiversity, I will eternally remain opposed to use of GMOs as foods until the ambiguous facts behind the technology has been adressed!

For now, we all know the negative effects of GMOs in our bodies and I believe that the risks are not worth it.

So, it is hard work and it encompasses critical thinking (of which lack of it is the hallmark of decision makers in this country who are always out to gain political mileage from everything) but we still need to exploit out biodiversity rather than GMO: lest history treat us harshly as the generation who shirked their responsibilities (it is not as if we already are viewed as the most irresponsible generation anyway) and make our grandkids forever curse us as a generation.

This issue of GMOs is very emotive. For the simple reason that it is not fully understood by the proponents and the opponents. It calls for sober decisions with no politics in it. Unfortunately….even in the US, pro-GMO lobby and anti-GMO lobbyists are political players clouding any issues that may arise from it.

And the most curious thing is that one of the world’s foremost authorities on GMO is Kenyan, Prof.Calestous Juma of Harvard. [@Calestous] Yet, due to our myopia, we can’t even think of summoning him here to give us the most simplified explanation on the benefits and lack thereof of GMOs. For that is where we need to start.

Research that spans over 3 decades has already proven that GMOs are unsafe for the human body and also the environment. Ten facts you should know about Monsanto GMO; http://bestmeal.info/monsanto/facts.shtml